Paul Saad, MBA is a founder of The BAR Group (an independent network of local professionals dedicated to providing a wide range of business services to small and solo law firms in Contra Costa County), he is also a Financial Advisor with Safeguard Financial.

For Contra Costa attorneys there is another way and that is to consult the B.A.R. Groupwhich is an independent networking of business professionals that serve the solo and small firms in the East Bay towns of Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Orinda, Concord, San Ramon, Danville and many others.

Discounts Available Off the Top

All the members of the Bar Group pledge on the website to provide a discount to Contra Costa County Attorneys.  BUT even more importantly, the BAR Group is dedicated to educating this under-served market about ways to get better services at lower costs so that attorneys can do what they do best – practice law.

The following definitions are from the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

Customer: One that purchases a commodity or service

Client: A person who engages the professional advice or services of another.

Many attorneys have been conditioned to believe that ‘customer’ is a crude term to avoid at all costs. As professionals they strive for the more sophisticated ‘client’ relationship. Being client-centric may lead to greater success in building a long-term, profitable business, but could actually prove detrimental when it comes to transitioning your practice.

If you are intending to sell your practice, its value will be based on the future stream of revenue it will be expected to produce. The fact that customers are buying from the firm makes them more likely to continue the relationship through a change in ownership (and herefore potentially more valuable to a buyer). Most attorneys, however, are building a client base by branding themselves (and therefore have assets that are less likely to transition during change of ownership).

The traditional approaches to overcome this conundrum have been to introduce the ‘buyer’ well before the proposed transition to acclimate clients, and/or to stay on for a period (even years) to smooth the process and promote client retention. Both of these approaches have their obvious challenges.

Some insightful professionals, however, have managed to create brands that project their specific strengths and values, while allowing them to become secondary to the brand. Their goal is to build clients who can be valued as customers in the event of a transition. Of course this is easier said than done!

Paul Saad, MBA is a founder of The BAR Group (an independent network of local professionals dedicated to providing a wide range of business services to small and solo law firms in Contra Costa County), he is also a Financial Advisor with Safeguard Financial.

Paul can be reached at 925-482-8330 or paulsaad@safeguardfinancial.com 

As the results lag expectations, the solution becomes to work harder. So, many self-employed lawyers then become despondent— while they made the move hoping for greater flexibility, what they end up with is more pressure, stress, and even longer hours.

Working 24/7 is not necessary to achieve a successful independent legal practice. Results come not from working harder, but from working smarter. So, if you have, or are about to, become self-employed, ask yourself the following questions:

1. What do you want to be earning? What does that translate into per month?

2. How many hours a week do you need to bill in order to meet your target?

3. How much of your time are you spending on tasks which are unnecessary or unimportant?

4. What are you spending time on which is not contributing to your billing?

5. Is there anything you could delegate or outsource to someone else?

6. What are you doing which you don’t enjoy, and how can you eliminate it?

Paul Saad, MBA is a founder of The BAR Group (an independent network of local professionals
dedicated to providing a wide range of business services to small and solo law firms in Contra Costa County), he is also a Financial Advisor with Safeguard Financial.

Paul can be reached at 925-482-8330 or info@thebargroup.org

Wendy Graves has over 30 years experience as a Certified Shorthand
Reporter. In taking thousands of depositions and hundreds of
arbitrations she has earned a reputation for accuracy and expediency.
Wendy has worked with a wide range of clients from sole practitioners to well
known national firms. She enjoys the challenge of mastering and using
technology and insists that CRS employ the latest in hardware, software and
Internet communication tools to get the record whenever and wherever it’s
needed; nothing less will do. Wendy is also a trained Small Claims Court
mediator.

CRS offers the full-range of deposition and litigation support services:

• Free Conference Rooms with Refreshments
• Mediation Center (with breakout rooms)
• Business Center (New!)
• Real-Time Reporting (laptops available)
• Daily and Expedited Transcripts
• Reporter Video Services
• Professional Videographers
• Video, DVD and Internet Sound File
• Transcription
• Transcript Synchronization to DVD
• Interpreters
• Transcript Management
• Secure Repository (with 24/7/365 Internet access)
• Secure Online Construction
• Defect Document Depository
• Internet Delivery of Transcripts and Exhibits
• Searchable pdf transcript with word index
• Publisher Bundles, Summation SBFs
• Exhibits Scanned and Uploaded to our
• Secure Repository or Burned to a CD
• Internet Real-Time Reporting
• War Rooms in Contra Costa County
• Skype

Link

She immediately got what we were about when she called us the “One stop shop” for Contra Costa County attorneys looking for help with the business of running their practices so they can focus on practicing law.

Understanding Small Law Firm Needs

The Bar Group is attending a variety of Contra Costa Bar Association events in order to listen to the needs of attorneys in Contra Costa and share with them information about how our business services can take the pressure off running their practice and place on the practice of law.

Here is a link to photos of the event which include a number of The Bar Group Members!